Love Before Duty
by Cowpewter
Summary: Duo makes a new friend, and tension rises between him and Heero. Shonen-ai 1x2 *Complete* (R due to language)
1. The Friend

Author's Note: Well, this is probably a bit of a Mary Sue, but the story just wanted to be written. I absolutely love 1x2, and this is for all the yaoi lovers who sometimes wish they could have Duo all to themselves. I started this fanfic a couple years ago, then put it away, but now I'm finishing it. This is the first one of my stories to completely make the jump from my head to the paper. Please feel free to let me know any mistakes you find, or suggestions you have. Thanks.  
Also, this is part 1 of several. Look for more soon.  
Additional note: I know a lot about computers, but only enough about hacking to know I don't know nearly enough to ever even think about trying. None of the story gets very technical though, and since OZ's bases seem to be pretty much completely computer controllable (like in that one episode, where they shut off the air to the prison cells from the main control room), I think the stuff done is certainly doable.  
Now go, read, enjoy!

**Love Before Duty**

**Part 1 – The Friend**

Another week, another school, and soon…another mission. Life continued as normal. _Or as normal as it gets for a fifteen-year-old god of death_, Duo thought to himself as he took his seat next to the girl that was supposed to show him around. The times like this, the ones between missions and battles and war, always felt strange. Surreal really. Sometimes he felt like he would explode, sitting in a classroom taking notes and listening to lectures, when he knew that outside there was a war going on, and people were dying for causes they thought they believed in. What good is all this knowledge, what good is this teaching, he wanted to stand up and shout. If it were any good, then people wouldn't die. Men wouldn't kill one another and be proud at what they had done. But he would sit, and listen. And then _he_ would go out, and _he_ would fight and kill, and be proud. And he knew it. 

He glanced over at his guide. She was about his height, which was good. Being small had its advantages, but tall women were always rather intimidating, though he never let it show. And at his height, there were a _lot_ of tall women. A small pair of glasses was perched on the end of her nose, looking as though it was about to fall off. She seemed enthralled by something on her laptop computer. She was kinda cute. _Well, time to make introductions_, Duo thought. 

"Hey, there! How ya doing? My name's Duo. Whatcha looking at?" Dark thoughts forgotten, Duo was again his usual cheerful self. 

"Oh," the girl looked up, startled. "Hi. I'm Elizabeth. You're one of the new students here?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up and closing her laptop. 

"Yup. That's me." 

"Well, since we have all the same classes, they asked me to show you around. I guess after class I can give you the grand tour." She sighed. "It's not much really. I think they mostly do this so you have a friend to start off with." Elizabeth looked away, and her voice dropped. "But I don't think you'll have much trouble finding friends." 

Duo looked up. A short distance away a group of girls were looking at him and giggling to each other. When they saw him look in their direction they all blushed and pretended to be looking at something else. 

"Hmm… So, whatcha got on that computer?" 

"Oh…nothing really. Just a little project of mine. It's not important. So why'd you change schools in the middle of the year?" Elizabeth changed the subject. 

"Just trying to get away from the war," Duo lied. _Well, that's almost true,_ he thought, _I'm getting away from where the war was so I can be where the war is going to be._ Lying was always easy. 

"Oh. You know, it's so weird. I'm mean, I know there's a war on, but it seems so far away. We're just sitting here like everything is normal. But people are dying. I mean, really dying. Dead. I don't know. It just seems so unreal." 

"I feel the same way." _She's so innocent. What would she think if she knew a killer was standing right in front of her?_ Duo mentally shook his head. _Aw, what do I care what she thinks. Only the other guys would understand it. Only they could understand me._ Suddenly Duo wished he were with Heero. He needed the feel of those strong arms wrapped around him. But their schedules were different. He wouldn't see Heero until the end of the day. _Not_ my _fault I can't do those fancy mathematics,_ Duo huffed to himself. Not that it mattered anyway. Things had been tense between him and Heero lately. 

* * * 

Elizabeth tried to relax as class started. She knew why the teachers had assigned her to be Duo's guide. It wasn't to give _him_ a friend. _It's not like I don't have any friends. I have a few; they're just not very close._ She didn't think Duo would be any different. _Besides, I have my little project to distract me. He almost found out. I'll have to be more careful._ While hacking into the military's computers was a fun and educational pastime, it was a fast way to get you killed, or worse, during a war. It wasn't smart in peacetime either, but in wartime it was downright stupid. _If anyone ever found out… _She didn't know where Duo's loyalties lay, but it didn't matter. She couldn't risk him turning her in to OZ. If no one found out about it she was safe. She was careful, and most importantly, she was good. They never knew she was there. 

Finally it was lunchtime. Elizabeth showed Duo to the cafeteria. They got their lunches and sat down. "Ah," Duo said as he sat, "my favorite time of day. Lunchtime." The look on his face as he started to wolf down his food was so joyous that Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle. "What're you laughing at?" Duo asked with his mouth full. "Did I dribble on my shirt or something?" He started looking around for fallen food. 

"No, no. I've just never seen anyone that excited about food before." 

"Well, I've got to keep up my strength. You know, growing boy and all that bullshit." He suddenly glanced at something across the room. "Hey, there's Heero." 

"Who?" 

"Heero! Hey, Heero, buddy! Come sit over here," Duo called out him. 

A skinny boy with messy brown hair brought his tray over and sat across from them. He looked at her, and her breath caught in her throat. His cold, calculating gaze looked her over as if he were trying to decide if she was worth his time. Finally he turned his attention to Duo, and she could breathe again. 

"Elizabeth, this is my friend Heero. Heero, Elizabeth. She's my guide. Heero, where's your guide? Didn't they give you one?" 

"I told him not to bother." 

"Oh, okay." 

Duo continued to chatter on about all sorts of topics, somehow managing to stuff his face at the same time. Heero listened silently. Elizabeth began to revise her initial opinion of Heero. _It's not that his eyes are cold. Not at all. Its almost as if there's a fire burning inside of him and when measured against that fire everything else becomes insignificant. Even people. No, especially people. Hmm._ She wondered how he and Duo had become friends. He didn't seem the type to make friends at all. 

_Oh no. Here we go._ Elizabeth saw a group of girls making their way toward the table. In the lead was the most popular girl in the school. She walked with a purpose in their direction with the girls trailing behind her in a giggling clump. _A gaggle of giggling, giddy girls. I should use that in my rhetoric class._ She could make out some of the whispers being exchanged between them, "…new guys…long-haired one's cute…like the other…so intense…" 

The lead girl stopped beside the table. "Hello there…Lizzie. Why don't you introduce us to our new students?' 

"Yeah, stop hogging them, Elizabeth," one of the other girls said. 

Elizabeth forced herself to smile. "Jennie, this is Duo, and this is Heero," she said, indicating each one in turn. "Heero, Duo, this is Jennifer DuBois, and her friends. And I'm not hogging them. I'm Duo's guide." 

"Well, there's no need to be rude about it, Lizzie. We merely wished to welcome our new friends to our school. There's nothing wrong with that." 

"Hello everyone! Thanks for the welcome," Duo broke into the conversation. 

"Thank you Duo. You are quite the gentleman." Jennie turned to Heero. "And you Heero. How do you like our school so far?" 

Heero barely glanced at her before turning back to his lunch and replying, "It's fine." 

"Heero's kind of quiet. Don't mind him." Duo started talking with the girls. Elizabeth picked at her lunch in silence. Heero did the same. The girls were all flirting shamelessly with Duo. _They're so obvious. Why can't they just leave? Is lunch over yet?_ Jennie presided over it all like a queen surveying her territory. 

Finally Jennie said, "Well, lunch is almost over so we had better go. If you'd like, the two of you are welcome to sit at our table tomorrow. See you later." Jennie strode off, her entourage trailing in her wake. 

Elizabeth sighed with relief. Duo turned to her. "Your nickname isn't really Lizzie, is it?" 

"No, she only does that to antagonize me. Friends call me Liz." 

"I take it you two don't get along very well, huh." 

"That's the understatement of the year. 

"How come? What happened?" 

"Nothing happened. Look, she's pretty and popular. I'm not that pretty, I have almost no friends here, and I take almost all advanced classes. I don't spend an hour every morning doing my hair and make-up. I don't even _wear_ make-up. I refuse to follow her around like a puppy, sucking up to her and making her feel powerful just for the privilege and prestige of being friends with her. I have better things to do with my time." 

Duo looked surprised, and then shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I don't blame you. Personally, she struck me as a bit of bitch anyway." 

* * *

Duo strode into the room he was sharing with Heero. Finally, classes were over. Duo was in a good mood. "Hey, lover," he said to Heero as he dropped his books on his bed. Heero turned around from the laptop he was always playing with and gave Duo an icy glare. Duo inwardly cringed. That was the look that usually preceded people getting killed. "I'm sorry. Geez. Relax, okay?" Heero turned back to his computer, still not saying a word. Duo sat down on his bed and sighed. So much for his good mood. Why had things been like this lately? All he and Heero ever did any more was argue. Well, Duo argued, Heero just stayed silent and held his ground, only occasionally interjecting a few caustic remarks. They hadn't made love in over two weeks. _I wish Quatre were around. He's good at this relationship stuff._

Maybe that's why he'd starting spending more time with that girl he'd met his first day here. Elizabeth. He hadn't really made any friends here. He never did. _I've always had Heero. He was enough._ Besides, he knew that he would be moving to another school, and another, never staying at one long enough to make friends worthwhile. By the time you got close, it'd be over. But Elizabeth was different from the other kids at this school. She actually seemed to take the war seriously. He hoped that when he brought the war here, she'd survive. All the other girls did nothing but flirt with him. Of course, he flirted back, but he didn't really want to be friends with any of them. _They're all too…what's the word…um…vapid. _Of course, Elizabeth didn't flirt with him. She treated him like a person, and not some cute conquest. _Oh, shut up brain! I love Heero. And he loves me. I think. I hope. Well…he used to. There is no, absolutely no, reason to be attracted to some girl you've only known for a couple of weeks. Anyway, you probably won't even be at this school for a whole month. You'll leave for a mission, whenever it comes, and never see her again._

But then, things between him and Heero were falling apart. _No. I refuse to give up on this. I refuse to give up on him._ Duo sighed again. _I need some rest._ He decided to take a nap.


	2. The Mission

**Part 2 – The Mission**

"Duo, wake up. We received our mission." 

"Huh… what?" Duo yawned. "Oh, yeah. A mission." Duo got up and stretched. So it was over already. "So, what're we blowing up this time? The base?" There was an OZ base nearby. Duo knew that was why they were at this school. 

"Only part of the base. They just received a shipment of mobile suits. We're destroying them." 

"Okay, well, just let me get a show-" 

"We leave in ten minutes. You don't need Deathscythe. We're doing this one on foot." 

_Ten minutes?! Gee, it was sure nice of him to give me some notice._ Duo sighed. It sure seemed like he was doing that an awful lot lately. _So much for Duo the cheerful maniac. More like Duo the depressed… um…uh…something. I don't know. So, no time for a shower. Hardly enough time to brush my hair!_

In a few minutes they were off. Heero was going to set the explosives. It was Duo's job to take care of any guards or other people who happened to get in the way. 

They parked the car, stolen of course, in the woods outside the base. Up and over the fence, no problem. Sneak past the perimeter guards, no problem. Get to the mobile suit hangar, no problem. Break into it, no problem. Then things got interesting. 

Heero set an explosive charge on each of the suits. They were all keyed to a remote detonator. Both pilots carried one, in case one was unable to press the button for some reason. Duo had, he thought, taken out the various guards quite quietly. He'd snuck up behind each one and hit the back of their head with the butt of his pistol. _Ha, everything is under control. Just like it should be. Heero is almost done. Then we just walk on out here and blow the place._ It was easy. Too easy. 

Heero had just finished setting the last explosive when one of the downed guards' walkie-talkies burst into life. "Lieutenant Roberts. Come in. Come in." There was a pause. Duo froze. "Roberts, are you there? Respond." A trickle of static. "Roberts!" 

The silence hung in the air. It was overwhelming. Duo wanted to call out the Heero, but he couldn't break that silence. He knew they'd be sending someone, no, make that multiple someones, to investigate. He pressed himself against the hangar wall, hoping that his gun was pointed towards the right door. "Duo, let's go," Heero called. 

Then the other door burst open. _It's always the other door. It couldn't be the one I'm pointing my damn gun at. Oh, no. We can't make life easy, now can we?_ Duo turned to fire at the soldiers coming at him from inside the base. He only managed two shots before his gun flew out of his hand, hit by the opposing fire. "Halt! Stay where you are!" one of the soldiers shouted. 

"Yeah, right. I don't think so." Cradling his numb hand, Duo started to run for the exit, dodging around and between the huge Leos in the hanger. Suddenly there were soldiers in front of him. He dodged behind a mobile suit. _I just have to make it outside, and then we'll blow this place up. Hopefully that will distract them enough for us to get off the base._ The Leos were like a maze. Duo wasn't sure what direction he was running in anymore. He suddenly found himself out in the open area of the hanger, bumping right into one of the searching OZ soldiers. Duo recovered first, and headed back for the cover of the Leos, but not before the soldier managed to shoot him in the shoulder. _Fuck, that hurts! Great, now I'm leaking a trail of blood. What a shitty day._ Before he knew it, he was surrounded. There was nowhere left to run. And then the hangar exploded. 

* * *

Pain. His whole body was a throbbing ball of pain. It surrounded him like a blanket, suffocating. _What the hell just happened?_ The last thing he remembered was the sensation of flying, weightless in a world of blinding light and deafening noise. The mission. The explosion. _I was caught in that explosion. Where am I?_ Duo opened his eyes and tried to look around. The effort made him want to puke. He held back the wave of nausea, bile burning in the back of his throat. He was in a small room, more of a box. Four walls, one with a closed door. There was something familiar about all this. The door opened. A man stood outlined in the doorframe, wearing an OZ uniform. _Oh, that's why this is familiar. I'm in a prison cell. Great. What a way to start the morning._

"I see you're awake," said the man in the uniform, "We have a few…questions to ask you." 

_And now they're going to torture me. This day gets better and better._ "Go away," Duo croaked from between cracked lips. "I don't want any." 

"Come on, let's go." 

"I don't think I can walk." 

"Actually, the blast threw you clear of the flames. You have more bruises than burns. Possibly some broken bones." The officer smirked. "But the doctor says your legs are fine." 

"I'll puke on you." This seemed to have more of an effect on the officer. He snarled and left. But Duo figured he'd be back. 

Now that he was more conscious, Duo gave himself a quick examination. The pain was starting to separate into identifiable parts. He was burned, but mostly on his chest, and on his arms where he'd thrown them up to protect his face. Quickly he checked his braid. It was singed around the edges, but otherwise unharmed. It was a mess though. He was a mess. His back felt like one giant bruise, and at least a couple of his ribs were broken. The officer was right, though. His legs were fine, if a bit unsteady. He'd live. It was almost a shame. He wouldn't be giving OZ the inconvenience of having to dispose of his body. 

A little while later, the officer came back, accompanied by two others. "We've decided to question you here." 

"What a pity," said Duo, "I would've enjoyed puking on you." 

* * *

Duo wasn't in any of his classes today. It was odd, because he never missed class. At lunchtime, Elizabeth found Duo's roommate, that guy who almost never spoke. _What was his name again? Oh yeah, Heero._ "Hey, Heero. I'm a friend of Duo's. Elizabeth. You're his roommate, right?" 

"Yeah." 

"He wasn't in class today. Is he okay?" 

"He's sick." 

"Oh. Okay. Is he going to be alright?" 

"He's fine. He's just not feeling well, so he didn't go to classes today." 

Elizabeth left Heero with a chill down her spine. _Something's not right._

* * *

After school, Elizabeth did her homework and then settled down to a relaxing evening of OZ-watching. It was quite addicting really. She'd figured out how to tap into the com systems and the security systems at the nearby base. So she could sit back and listen to all the conversations and watch the soldiers on their rounds. 

She was still worried about Duo. She stopped by his room after school. Heero answered the door and said, "He's sleeping. Go away." Just like that. _Anyway. I don't know how Duo puts up with him. _

She went through the memos posted on the base's computers for the past day. Yesterday they had mostly been about some shipment of mobile suits. They were going to use them to flush out a nearby enclave of ex-Alliance soldiers turn guerillas. _Maybe one of those Gundam pilots will steal them or something. That'd be fun to read about._ She'd learned a lot about those Gundams through OZ and its computer systems. She hadn't actually brought up the specific files on them yet, but she'd heard about them in briefings and memos. Maybe she'd look up those files on them tonight. 

_Now, back to those memos. Hmm…boring, boring, boring._ Most of them were the usual administrative stuff. She'd read a million of them. She probably knew more about how OZ ran itself then OZ did. But…there were a few of them concerning some sort of explosion in one of the hangars in the middle of the night. The non-encrypted memos just mentioned the event without much detail, but the high-encryption memos (not that the encryption made any difference to _her_) described it as a Gundam attack! _Now this is the kinda stuff I've been waiting for!_ Excited, she continued reading. Apparently, two Gundam pilots snuck into the base and set explosives in the hangar with the new mobile suits and then blew them up. They captured one, and the other escaped. _They captured one…I've got to see this!_

Elizabeth searched through the memos until she found one that said which cell the Gundam pilot was in. She quickly tapped into the security cameras and found the one for the pilot's cell. He was hurt pretty bad, but he looked…familiar. _Oh my god. That's …that's Duo! Duo's a Gundam pilot!_ Heero lied to her. Duo didn't miss class because he was sick…. _Heero must be the other pilot._

* * *

"Heero, open the door!" Elizabeth pounded on the door. 

The door opened a crack. "I told you he was sleeping. Go away." 

Heero started to shut the door again, but Elizabeth jammed her foot in the opening. "I know what you are. And I know where Duo is." 

She heard a click. She saw a flash of movement, and something cold and hard suddenly pressed up against her forehead. A gun. _He's going to kill me. I'm going to die._ She started trembling. "Get in and shut the door," Heero demanded. Elizabeth slowly entered the room. She shut the door with a shaking hand. 

"Explain." 

Elizabeth tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "I…I've been hacking into the computer system at the local OZ base. It…a memo, it said one of the Gundam pilots had been captured. I logged into the security cameras. I wanted to see the pilot. It…it was Duo. He's hurt. You have to get him out of there. You can't leave him. It said there were two, and one got away. You must be the other. Please…" 

Heero lowered the gun. "It's too risky to go back." 

"Please. I can help you. I know which cell he's in. I can give you a map, the guard rotation schedule, anything you need. I could watch the security cameras, tell you when someone's coming. He's your friend. You can't just-" 

"I said it's too risky. He was stupid. He shouldn't have been caught in the first place. I can't risk us both just save his sorry ass." Heero's eyes narrowed. "You should leave now." 

"You're heartless! I don't know how Duo even considers you a friend. You certainly don't deserve him!" Elizabeth whirled around and yanked open the door to leave. But she glanced back as she left, and thought she saw the glint of a tear running down Heero's cheek. _Impossible. I don't think he even can cry. _


	3. The Rescue

**Part 3 – The Rescue**

Duo was lying in his cell. They'd questioned him, but he didn't know anything. And they couldn't beat him up too bad unless they healed him first, so they had pretty much left him alone. He could move if he wanted to, but there really wasn't anywhere to move, and he figured it was better for his ribs if he stayed still. He didn't know how long he'd been here, but it had to be at least a couple of days, because his bruises were turning that greenish color. For some reason it always reminded him of bananas. 

He heard a strange noise from outside. It sounded like a scream. _Wonder who they're torturing now._ At least it wasn't him. His cell door opened. Maybe it was going to be him. Nobody walked through the door. He waited. Still nobody came in. Duo stuck his head out the door and looked down the hallway. It was empty. No, wait, there was a body a short way down the corridor. He looked like a janitor. 

"Duo! Duo!" Duo heard something calling his name in a stage whisper. "Duo. Get the walkie-talkie." 

"Great. Now I'm going insane. I'm probably dying, and this is some sort of demented dream." Duo crawled out into the corridor. 

"Get the walkie-talkie from the maintenance guy. Duo. Duo!" The whisper screamed at him from the direction of the body. 

"Well, I guess I might as well play along." Duo crawled over to the body and took the walkie-talkie from the man's belt. He wasn't dead, but he was unconscious. His hair made him look as though he'd stuck his finger in an electrical socket. 

"Good. You got it. Can you walk?" 

Duo stared at the walkie-talkie. How did it know he had picked it up? _Maybe OZ is trying to fuck with my head,_ Duo thought. He pushed the talk button. "Yeah, I can walk. I've got some broken ribs, so it'll hurt like a bitch, but I can walk. Who the hell is this, anyway? Is this some OZ trick? Or does Death have a sense of humor?" 

"Well, you probably best know the answer to that one. It's Liz. I'm rescuing you." 

"What the fuck…. Do I even _want_ to know?" 

"It's a long story. I'll tell you when you're no longer in the middle of an OZ compound. Look, there are no guards in this section right now. If you close your cell door they probably won't notice that you're gone for a while. Talk softly. Turn the volume on the walkie-talkie down so you can only hear it when it's next to your ear. I'll talk you out to where I am." 

Elizabeth's directions led him straight out of the base. There were guards and soldiers throughout, but Elizabeth knew when they were coming, and exactly where he should hide. It was downright freaky. Easiest escape he'd ever made. 

He found himself behind the base. Elizabeth was crouched over her laptop, which was connected to some wires running into the base. "There you are," she said. "My car's not far from here. We just have to hope we're out of here before they notice you're gone. Otherwise we're toast." 

The alarms chose just that moment to go off. "Do you want butter on your toast?" Duo asked as she unplugged her laptop and put it into a bag. "Let's get out of here." 

"One last thing." She pulled something out her bag. "Stand back, there may be sparks." She took two wires from the thing and touched them to two of the exposed wires running into the base. Sparks flew. The alarm died. "Let's go!" 

"What was that thing?" Duo asked her as they ran for her car. 

"A very large capacitor. It should have taken out the base's main computer system. They've got backups, but it should slow them down and create a lot of confusion." 

"Halt! Don't move!" 

They stopped and turned around. A single soldier had his gun pointed at them. Duo stepped in front of Elizabeth, and put his hands up. "Now, now, buddy, we don't want any trouble." 

Duo saw the soldier suddenly shift his focus. "Drop it missy," he said. Duo glanced behind him, and his eyes widened as he saw Elizabeth pointing a pistol back at the soldier, tears in her eyes, and shaking so bad he knew she wouldn't hit anything. 

"Liz, relax." Duo kept one eye on the soldier, the other on the pistol. 

The soldier laughed. "Silly girl. You couldn't hit your own foot if you stuck that gun in your shoe." 

Duo gauged the drop in the soldier's guard. He grabbed the pistol, covering Elizabeth's hand in his own, and fired. The soldier fell. "Liz, let go of gun. I have to make sure he's dead." 

"I…he…" Elizabeth stammered. 

"I know…just let it go for now." She dropped the pistol. Duo picked it up, walked over to the soldier's body, and fired one more shot into his head. He tucked the pistol in the waistband of his pants and walked back over to Elizabeth. "Come on now, we have to go. Can you carry your computer?" 

She nodded, and hugged the laptop case to her chest as they hurried away. 

They made it to Elizabeth's car before the alarms started again. Soon, they were far away. 

"Are you alright?" Duo asked. 

"I think so… maybe. I've never, I mean, I brought it just in case, but…He's dead. I…I shot him?" 

"No, I shot him." 

"But my hand, Duo. It was, it was on the gun. My _hand_ was on the _gun_." She looked desperate. 

"I'm sorry," Duo tried to reassure her, "There wasn't time for me to take the gun away from you. But you didn't kill him. I did. I pulled the trigger. Okay?" 

"Okay." 

They rode in silence for a few minutes. Duo fidgeted in his seat. He was exhausted and it even hurt to breathe. Elizabeth still had tears running down her cheeks, but wasn't making a sound. He had no clue what to do. _I don't know how to get someone to stop crying,_ he thought. _Heero never cries._ He swallowed hard, and looked out the window. 

Elizabeth broke the silence, "The school's too close to the base. They might look there. I can take you to my parents' house. Don't worry, they're not at home. They always spend this part of the year abroad." 

"No, I'm fine. You've done more than enough already. I can take care of myself." 

"Duo, you have multiple broken ribs, burns on your hands and chest, and god only knows what else. You need medical care, and somehow I have a feeling that taking you to a hospital would be just handing you right back to OZ." 

"Alright. I hurt too much to argue with that one, but only if you tell me how the hell you got me out of that cell." 

"It's a deal."

Author's Note:  
In case you were like, What the fuck? during the bit with the capacitor, here's what I had in mind. A capacitor can store a charge, kinda like a battery, except where batteries let their charge out slowly, when you complete a circuit across a capacitor, it releases its charge all in one big whoosh. You dump a huge power surge straight into network cabling, and you at least gonna fry some routers, if not damage even more equipment than that. So that's what's going on there. 


	4. The Recovery

**Part 4 – The Recovery**

After getting Duo settled down as well as she could, Elizabeth headed back to the school dorms. She took a deep breath, wiped away the remnants of her tears, and knocked on the door to Heero and Duo's room. 

Heero opened the door a crack. "What do you want now?" 

"I came to pick up Duo's stuff. You know, clothes, hairbrush, that sort of thing." 

"Why?" Heero looked unconvinced. 

"So he can take a goddamn shower and have clean clothes to put on afterward! Just the basics are enough for now, I can always come back later." _Anger,_ she thought. _At least it's better than crying._

Heero threw open the door and grabbed her arm. "What? Where is he?" His eyes were desperate. 

_Ow._ She yanked her arm away and rubbed at the sore spot. _Maybe he does give a damn._ "It's none of your business where he is. You didn't seem to care so much a couple days ago, I don't see why you should start now. Just give me his stuff. I still have to stop at the pharmacy on the way back." Elizabeth pushed past Heero and went into the small dorm bathroom. "If you don't tell me which stuff is his, I'll just take it all." 

"You will tell me where he is." It was a command. 

"Fine. I'll tell you, and you pack up his stuff. Deal?" 

Heero glared at her. 

"He's at my parents' place. They're gone most of the year, so it's completely empty," Elizabeth said, "There, I told you. Good luck finding it. They don't even have the same last name as I do. Now show me his stuff." 

Heero continued his glare. 

Elizabeth started to pale. Facing that glare was worse than facing his gun a few days ago. "Look, I'll take you there, if he wants to see you. Right now, he needs to get cleaned up and have his injuries treated. Please?" 

Heero finally relented. Elizabeth quickly threw together an overnight bag, with all essentials and a couple changes of clothes, and left. 

Heero stared at the door in silence for a few moments, and then quietly followed her out. 

* * *

Duo slowly woke up from a drugged sleep. "Heero….Heero, where…?" 

"Shhh." A hand stroked his forehead. "Lie still, your ribs are still healing." 

Duo reached to touch the figure. "Heero…Heero! When did you grow boobs?" 

"I'm not Heero, Duo. It's Liz." 

"Oh, okay." Duo tried to make his sluggish brain remember what was going on. _That's right, it was Liz that got me out of that base. But…_"Wait!" Duo tried to sit up. "Ow! Dammit! How did you…?" 

"Don't hurt yourself worse! Lie back down, and I'll tell you." Elizabeth explained her hobby, how she had found out about him being captured, Heero's refusal to help her, and how she had hacked into the system at the base to get him out. 

"Where is Heero? Is he okay?" Duo looked worried. 

"He's probably at the school, and he's fine. Not a scratch on him," Elizabeth replied bitterly. "I don't know what you see in him, all I see is a selfish, uncaring bastard." She sighed. "Are you hungry? I could go make some soup or something." 

"Sure! I'm always hungry!" 

Elizabeth smiled and headed off towards the kitchen. 

Duo lay back among the pillows and tried to take stock of the situation. He was clean, and his burns and scrapes seemed to all be bandaged and healing. His chest was wrapped up to support his broken ribs. He was wearing one of his pairs of black silk pajamas. His hair had been washed too, brushed, but not re-braided. _He didn't come for me. _Tears welled up in his eyes._ I know why, but…it still hurts. _He heard a click from across the room. Duo managed to turn his head far enough to see the window open. Someone slid in through the now-opened window. He couldn't see the figure's face, but the overall shape was utterly familiar. "Heero? Is that you?" 

"Duo?" The figure rushed over to the bedside. "Duo," Heero said, looking as concerned as Duo had ever seen him, "You're okay." 

"Ow, careful please, broken ribs," Duo gently wiggled out of Heero's embrace and settled back against the pillows. He looked up into Heero's eyes. They were brighter than normal, full of worry, love, and unshed tears. "I'm okay, really. Just don't squish me," Duo said, smiling. 

"I wanted…I wanted to come get you, but…" 

"I know. The 'Perfect Soldier' still can't put love in front of duty," Duo's voice dropped, and he looked away. "I understand. You don't have to explain." 

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and then Elizabeth walked into the room carrying a tray. She stopped when she saw Heero. "What are you doing here?" she asked. 

"I followed you," he said. 

She glared at him. Heero glared back. Duo interrupted. "Okay. No killing each other today please. I'm hungry, tired, and in pain. How about I eat my soup, take some more drugs, and then when I wake up, both of you are still alive? That sounds good, right? Humor the injured one." 

* * *

When Duo woke up again, the room was empty. "Heero? Liz? Anyone there?" 

Elizabeth walked in. "Hey there. How're you feeling?" 

"Well, you know. Still hurts, but better than I was." Duo frowned. "What about you?" 

"Same. Couple new nightmares, but I'm better than I was." 

"Is Heero still here?" 

"No. He said he had a mission." 

"Oh." Duo looked crestfallen. 

"Duo, I don't get it." Elizabeth sat down on the edge of the bed. "He was going to leave you there. I thought he was your friend. How could someone abandon a friend like that? You're not even angry with him, are you?" 

"We're both soldiers. A good soldier cannot put love before duty. And Heero's never been anything but a soldier. He doesn't know how to do anything else." 

"What about you?" 

"Hey, I never said I was a _good_ soldier, did I?" Duo smiled. "I don't know if I can explain it any better than that. Can I have some more of that soup?" 

"Sure." Elizabeth brought him some more soup. As Duo ate, she brushed out his hair and re-braided his it. Duo relaxed into it. _Mmm, it feels so nice._ Normally he wouldn't let anyone but Heero touch his braid. _Well, it's not like I can do it myself right now, _he thought. _Besides, it takes my mind off the pain._

"There you go!" Elizabeth finished off the braid. "Feeling more like yourself now?" 

"Yep. Thanks." 

* * *

A couple weeks passed. Duo's burns were completely healed, and while his ribs were not, the pain had at least started to ebb. The house was a small pocket of peace and safety, and he could almost pretend the rest of the world did not exist. He and Elizabeth sat outside, enjoying a pleasant afternoon. The spring sun was warm, but a cool breeze still held the last taste of winter. They rested beneath a tall oak tree next to the back porch. Duo sighed and leaned back against the trunk. He closed his eyes as the breeze played through his bangs. He glanced over to where Elizabeth sat, arms wrapped around her legs, chin resting on her knees, the wind pushing her hair away from her face. Her glasses had slipped down to the tip of her nose again. He had a sudden urge to push them back up. 

Duo crawled over and sat in front of Elizabeth. She looked up and smiled. He reached forward and took her glasses off, setting them down in the grass. Duo looked into her puzzled eyes, for the first time able to really see them. Brown. He tapped her nose with one finger and grinned. "You lied," he said. 

"What?" She looked even more confused. 

"When we met, you said you weren't pretty. You lied." 

A flush spread across her cheeks. "No, I'm not," she said. "The are tons of girls-" She stopped as Duo ran a hand across her cheek, tucking her hair behind an ear. He leaned forward, and when she didn't pull away, gently kissed her. He moved back a few inches to see her face. He saw surprise, confusion, but no anger. Her blush was even brighter. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

"No, that's alright. I mean, um," she stammered, "I've never been kissed by a guy before, that's all." 

"Well then, I suppose we'll have to fix that," he flirted, and began to lean forward again. 

The phone rang from within the house. Duo paused. It rang again. And again. 

"I guess I'd better go answer it," Elizabeth said. 

"Yeah, I guess so," Duo sighed, and sat back down. He watched her as she got up and walked back in. 

* * *

Elizabeth's mind was a whirl as she walked back into the house to get the phone. She kept replaying the last five minutes over and over again in her head. But the ring of the phone was insistent. She picked it up. "Hello?" 

She didn't recognize the voice. "Hi, is Duo there?" 

"Umm, hold on a minute." 

"Okay." 

Elizabeth set down the phone, and walked out onto the porch. "Hey Duo," she called, "It's for you." 

"Really?" Duo got up from under the tree and came in. Elizabeth sat down and listened to his end of the conversation 

"Hello?....Oh, hey Quatre, what's up buddy?....Really?....Yeah, I should be okay….As long as I don't get knocked around too hard….Is he?....Yeah, sounds like him, alright….Okay, meet you there then….Bye." 

He looked over to Elizabeth, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. "Well, looks like I've got to go." 

"Why?" 

"Got a mission. The guys need me." 

"But, Duo, your ribs, you're not healed yet. How can fight like that? You'll get killed!" Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't you want to stay here?" 

He reached down and wiped a tear off her cheek, and looked around at the place that had been his safe haven for the last few weeks. _So innocent, _he thought. _So beautiful, but so innocent._ "I would love to stay here with you," he said. 

She looked up. 

"But duty calls." He laughed, short and bitter. "I guess I'm a better soldier than I thought." 

"I don't understand." 

"I know." Understanding would destroy that innocence._ It's too precious in this world. I do not want to be the one to destroy it. Even if I could stay here… _"You deserve better than Death, anyway." He sighed, and kissed the rest of the tears off her cheeks. "Don't cry, I'm not worth it." Duo smiled. "Besides, you should be glad to get rid of me! Look what a pain in the ass I've been! You save my butt, and how do I repay you? Getting guns pointed at you, moping around in your house, eating all your food, making you miss classes. I mean, come on, I'm a pest!" 

Elizabeth laughed. "I suppose that's true." 

"See now, that's better." 

"Promise me you'll be careful?" 

Duo nodded. "I will. And you be careful too. Don't get caught with that hacking stuff. I'll give you a call if we ever need some good inside info." He winked. 

Duo packed up his stuff that afternoon. Elizabeth watched him. "For what it's worth," he said as he was getting ready to go, "I'm really sorry. I wish…" 

Elizabeth cut him off, "It's okay. I know I don't really understand, but…I can almost see it. And it's a part of you, so, you go on. Do what you have to do." She playfully tugged his braid, and smiled. "Just give me a hug before you leave." 

He did. 


	5. Epilogue

**Part 5 – Epilogue**

The sounds of battle were loud around him. Gunfire, explosions, and the sounds of his Gundam's own mechanics filled the cockpit. "C'mon Deathscythe, let's show 'em what we're made of!" Duo yelled over the noise. He sliced open a few more enemy suits, while to his right more were blown apart by Wing's buster rifle. _This is where I belong, _he thought. _I bring nothing but death and destruction. _Distracted, he left an opening that let one of the enemy suits hit him. The impact rocked Deathscythe back, sending a stab of pain through his chest. 

"Ow! Fuck!" Duo shouted, as he recovered his suit's balance and destroyed the Leo that had hit him. 

"Duo! Are you alright?" Heero's voice crackled over the com system. 

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just got me by surprise." Duo grinned. All the tension remaining between them had melted away when they met up before the mission. Heero had just been glad that Duo was okay, and his guilt about the rescue had made him more affectionate than ever. _This is where I belong, _Duo thought again._ Surrounded by the ones that love and understand me._

Suddenly the fighting stopped. There were no more enemy suits to destroy. In the distance, a building exploded. 

Heero's voice came over the intercom, "Mission complete." 

END 

Author's Note:  
I actually started the fic about 2 years ago, when I was a rabid, drooling Duo fangirl (Note – while I am no longer rabid, I am still a drooling Duo fangirl. *grin*), and it was based on some elaborate fantasy of rescuing him and stealing him away from Heero. The fic never got finished, and it languished away on my hard drive for quite some time. Just recently I decided to finish it. Well, now that I was sane enough to hear them, the characters had something to say about how they were going to be written. The scene where Heero comes in the window, and Duo makes the 'perfect soldier' comment wrote itself, and that was when the whole story suddenly came together. I knew that while Duo may still love Liz, he would not leave Heero. Ironically, the part in the beginning where Duo thinks about the other pilots, and how they are the only ones who can understand him, was one of the things written 2 years ago. Apparently this story was always meant to be written this way, and I just didn't know back then. Well, I hoped you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. 


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